Gothenburg - The annual session of the newly-renamed Nordic Rainbow Council -- this time in this Swedish west coast city on the sidelines of the giant annual international book fair - approved efforts for continued solidarity over Nordic borders, with rainbow immigrants and refugees in the Nordic region and with colleagues on the barricades in Eastern Europe - including Belarus and Russia.

The main priority is to continue to support events on the Eastern side of the Nordic region - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania struggling with hostile and increasingly homophobic forces.

"We agreed to change the "Homo" in our name to "Rainbow" to be more up-to date and to make sure that trans people, bisexuals and other supportive "rainbow-minded" colleagues feel welcome," says Bill Schiller, international secretary of the Council.

2007 Nordic Rainbow Flags to Fly at Gothenburg Fair?

The session also agreed to co-ordinate a joint effort in 2007 to repeat this year's successful pioneering effort of raising Nordic rainbow flags at the International Square - the largest section of the Gothenburg Book Fair, which is the biggest annual cultural event in the Nordicarea. This was made possible with the financial grant from Tupilak (Nordic rainbow cultural workers) in the form of the 2006 Loke Sister's award supporting rainbow cultural projects outside of the Swedish capital.

The Nordic rainbow stand presented books, poetry, CD's, printed information, art and photography - and also co-ordianted two stage presentations on Nordic co-operation with Eastern Europe and with rainbow immigrants and refugees in the Nordic zone combined with highly-appreciated, humor-filled erotic poetry performances.

The Council also agreed to seek further financial support - such as from the Nordic Culture Fund assistance for the Nordic delegation to the 1st Moscow Pride in May, and other institutions. And to send Nordic delegations to the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) world rainbow cultural conference stages in Minsk and Posnan this November, following the first stage in Moscow.

The Council also pledged support to the first Nordic rainbow event in the Åland Islands this December - the "Rainbow Lucia" and to continue searching for projects in the other semi-independent areas of the Nordic region -- Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The session also approved continued membership in the ILGA (International Lesbian & Gay Association (with the annual fee partly covered by Tupilak, the Nordic Rainbow Humanists, the ILGCN Information Secretariat in Stockholm and others.

Swedish Pol-Balt Solidarity Network Saluted

In co-operation with Tupilak and the ILGCN Information Secretariat, the Council approved the proposal to grant the 2006 ILGCN "Arco Nordica" award diploma to Sweden's newly-created "Pol-Balt Network" - providing assistance, solidarity and exchanges with colleagues in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Decisions were also taken to keep Council bureaucracy to a minimum, charge no membership fee but instead to seek voluntary contributions, and to search for more Network members even among more local sections of national organizations, since some of these are at times more interested in Nordic and international co-operation than the mother organizations

Earlier Council sessions have taken place in Riga, Tallinn, Tampere, Oslo, Wasa and Stockholm. Next year's session is preliminarily planned for Vilnius.

Gothenburg - The first rainbow flags were raised September 21-23,2006 at the "International Square" - the largest section of thegiant Gothenburg Book Fair in this Swedish west coast city - at acolorful stand displaying art work, photography, poems, literature andpublications - and including humor-filled, erotic poetry readings andhappenings.

"Nordic rainbow cultural co-operation and solidarity withcolleagues in Eastern Europe under the title of 'Rainbows in Chainsand under Siege' -- and sharing Nordic rainbows with immigrants andrefugees were the themes of the our stage presentations and in theinformation provided at our stand," says Bill Schiller of the NordicRainbow Council.

Thanks to co-operation with RFSU (the Swedish sexual informationfederation), the stage presentation on Eastern European barricadesincluded lawyer Evita Gosa of the Latvian rainbow organization, Mozaikaand Anna Kirey of the LGBT organization LABRYS of Kyrgyzstan.

"Freedom of Expression," Sweden's 'Multi-Cultural Year'

"With the city of Riga banning the Pride Parade again thisyear and even worse violent homophobic attacks on Pride events there,the visible presence of Latvia was especially important to illustratethe Gothenburg fair's theme this year: "Freedom of Expression,"adds Schiller.

The stage presentation on immigrants and refugees in the Nordicarea included Ardeshir Bibakabadi of Homan, (Persian-speaking and otherrainbow immigrants) - helping underline the reality that despitededicating this year as Sweden's "multi-cultural year," manyrainbow immigrants are often left in the shadows of the Nordic rainbowscelebrated by the native-born.

"There was great interest in our rainbow stand where were-discovered old members and recruited new ones, and establishedworking contact with several other International Square colleagues forfuture co-operation," Schiller adds. "We hope to increase thenumber of rainbow organizations working together with us next year atthis the biggest annual cultural event in the Nordic region."

On the sidelines of the Gothenburg event, the annual session ofthe Nordic Homo Council (see separate press release) discussed ongoingand future Nordic co-operation in the Nordic region and in EasternEurope and approved a proposal to change the name of the Council to the'Nordic Rainbow Council' to be more inclusive and up-to-date. Thechange is to be communicated to the ILGA where the Council is a member.

At the International Square, over 60 exhibitors work withinternational issues and development co-operation: NGO's, publishers,businesses and agencies with a program including Swedish and foreignguests, performances, debates and images.

The Square also hosts a number of stands and exhibits where theparticipating organizations offer information and activities; presentpedagogical tools and travelling tips; sell books and arrange meetingsand book signings with authors and other guests. The middle of theSquare features a big book stand with books from all over the world.

The Square has been a part of the International Book Fair inGothenburg since 2000.